[ad_1]
The international educational group Laureate decided to leave the country and today ended 20 years of presence in Chile, when announcing the transfer of its main institutions (Universidad Andrés Bello, Universidad de las Américas and Universidad de Viña del Mar) to a non-profit foundation.
The news comes from the United States, where this afternoon the group announced that it transferred control of these schools to the Fundación Education and Culture, entity chaired by Jorge selume zaror and that has the participation of Juan Antonio Guzmán Molinari.
Although the colleges were transferred, Laureate sold two other campuses: the AIEP professional institute was sold to the Andrés Bello University for US $ 214.6 million, and the professional institute Escuela Moderna de Música was awarded to the same foundation for US $ 3.6 million.
The magnitude of this financial operation is evident in the figures of its institutions: Andrés Bello University is the largest in the country, with 49 thousand students. AIEP is the second largest institution of higher education in the country, with 91 thousand students. And the University of the Americas adds another 23 thousand young people.
Total, the five institutions involved in this operation add 173 thousand students, 14% of all enrollment of Chilean higher education.
Through a statement, Laureate reported that the decision occurs within the framework of the series of strategic moves that the network is doing globally, and that include its departure from various operations and countries such as Australia, Costa Rica, Spain, among others.
“Prior to this announcement, a few weeks ago Laureate had already lowered the valuation of its operations in Chile, as a consequence of the new regulations for the sector and the existing uncertainties in this matter ”, said the holding company.
“We are tremendously proud of the level of quality and solidity of the educational project of each of the educational institutions that formed the Laureate Network in Chile. During our 20 years in the country we became an important actor in the Chilean educational system and we contribute significantly to the expansion of coverage ”, said the CEO Laureate Latin America, Jesús Villate.
In these 20 years, Laureate was constantly at the center of the discussion of profit in education, at least since the student protests of 2011, because their institutions responded to an international group and because of the massive number of enrollments.
In August, the educational holding company reported that its operations in Chile had a devaluation of US $ 418 million, after identifying “risks and uncertainties” in the country.
As reported by the newspaper El Mercurio, the Laureate Chairman and CEO Eilif Serck-Hanssen, warned of concern about “the challenging political and regulatory environment we have experienced, and of course, the possibility that the new Chilean constitution comes into effect as of the summer of 2022 ”.
By announcing this operation, Laureate President and CEO Eilif Serck-Hanssen, affirmed through a statement that the decision it is in tune with “the changes in the regulatory landscape. The operation of these institutions at the national level should offer good results for the students and for the country ”.
Jorge Selume, President of the foundation that is now in charge of the four higher education campuses (and AIEP, through the UNAB), said in the same statement that “each institution brings a unique perspective to the contribution it makes to the development of its students, your community and Chile. We are committed to consolidating and continuing to strengthen the future trajectory of each institution ”.
Selume and Guzmán have been linked to U. Andrés Bello since its inception. Through a statement, the foundation affirmed that its existence “gives full confidence that all the surpluses and assets of these institutions are used exclusively to achieve their founding purposes: to be a contribution to Chile through the development and improvement of education. higher”.
For its part, the rector of the U. Andrés Bello, Julio Castro, informed his community this afternoon that the purchase of AIEP promotes “the articulation between the professional and university technical sector in various careers, understanding that today educational institutions must see themselves as integrating entities ”.
At the end of this note, the directors of all these institutions were informing their communities about the change of ownership.
[ad_2]
